20 Mile Marathon Training Adventure

How was your weekend? Any great adventures or long runs to report? I got in my longest training run for LA Marathon training – my 20 miler! I can’t believe the race is in 3 weeks – it’s all downhill from here! Next weekend I’ve got 14 miles, then a short 7 miler, then the race!

I had another adventure run of sorts, picking up people along the way. My adventure started solo with a run from my apartment up to my friend Karen’s place in Cleveland Park.

It was a lovely, sunny morning – really cold but beautiful. The only problem was that there was still a ton of snow around everywhere from earlier in the week! I ran through Georgetown, which was looking rather snowy/icy.

From Georgetown, I ran up Wisconsin and right on P street, over the bridge (pictured above) and to Dupont Circle, where I turned left on Connecticut to run north up to Cleveland Park. The sidewalks on Connecticut were mostly clear, but there were huge piles of (dirty) snow everywhere. Gross. Spring, we need you!!

Running over the bridge to Woodley Park:

I made it to Karen’s place around mile 5. We hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks since we’ve both been so busy (she teaches at Georgetown University, so it’s fun to talk teaching with her) – it was so good to see her again! I missed her.

Karen and I decided to run through the Zoo…

And down into Rock Creek Park, hoping that the trails would be okay for us to run to Beech Drive, which is closed to cars on the weekends and lovely to run on.

But unfortunately the trail looked like this! Fail. We ended up running on it gingerly for about a mile and then bailing at Porter Street. Oh well!

Instead, we ended up running back to Connecticut and running up north and then back. Not as pretty but it did the job!

When we got back to Karen’s place, she said she was down to run farther with me, so we forged on back towards Georgetown. Yay – I was happy for the company for a little longer! We said farewell once we reached Georgetown and I continued back towards Virginia on my own. Thanks for the miles, Karen!

Matt had wanted to do some running on Sunday as well since his soccer game on Saturday was cancelled due to snow, so we made plans for him to meet me at the bottom of the hill of death and to continue on together from there. We ended up meeting on Key Bridge – perfect!

Matt and I hadn’t run together in ages and it was such a nice treat to have him as company for the end of a long run! I met up with him around mile 14 and we did a big out and back through Arlington to complete my final 6 miles.

He ended up covering 8 miles total when you included his run to meet me – I was proud! We’re doing the Pittsburgh half marathon together (along with a big group of friends + our brothers) in May, so you’ll see him popping up on here for long runs more often! It will be his first half marathon (and his brother Drew’s first, too) – exciting!

20 miles – boom! Pace was ALL over the place given the snow situation, so it wasn’t as speedy as my long runs have been so far, but whatever. Great run and a fun Sunday adventure! One thing that has been nice about winter training is that it gets me outside on days I’d probably normally stay indoors!

Regarding fuel for this run, I did more of my new favorite from last week: medjool dates stuffed with a little peanut butter and sprinkled with salt. I had 3 of them, plus a small chewy granola bar. Perfect! Loving the real food fuel lately.

It’s great that you meet up with friends along the way! And props to you for running when it’s cold and gross out. I can’t wait for the snow to melt so I won’t have to dodge piles of nasty snow and slippery ice!

I’m inspired to try the “real food” refueling for my Baltimore marathon training! Since the race is in October, I’ll be running through the hot summer. It’ll be trial and error to see what sits well, but the dates sound awesome!

Amazing!! I’m seriously in awe of your training and dedication whenever I stop by!!! A true inspiration!!!! I’ll take a date with peanut butter…running or no running Do you and Matt have a similar pace?

I absolutely love your running recaps!! This may be a weird question, but do you stop to take all of the pictures as you go? I LOVE it and have stopped to take a couple while running, but I am usually with other people and don’t want to ruin their pace…who knows, maybe they won’t mind!! It’s pretty snowy in Indy too which makes running outdoors VERY interesting Yay for getting your big 20 miler in!

No, I usually take them while I’m running! The only time I stop is (obviously) if I’m in the photo, or if it’s really dark out and I wouldn’t be able to get a good picture while moving. I use a point and shoot so it’s easy to take action shots on the go!

Hi, long time reader and native Virginian here. I live in Pgh now and will be running the Pgh Half for the first time this May! I’ve always been in awe of runners and always wished I could run the Half. Took up running about a year and a half ago and ran my first Half last Sept. Anyway, also looking forward to the Pgh Half, have always heard great things. Glad you guys are running it too!

A few days late commenting but I wanted to say I also ran long in DC last wknd and find the best routes are roads like Conn Ave, Wisconsin, etc…sadly the trails and waterfront paths were unworkable. And I know what you mean about running forcing you to spend time outside every day- I think it almost makes winter seem more bearable when you an at least run and enjoy the scenery. Anyway, great job!

Hi Anne! I’m Olivia and I’ve been following your blog for a few months now because I’m thinking about becoming a dietitian (I’m a senior in high school)! I’m from Pittsburgh and I’ll also be running the half marathon in May! It’s a great race- I’ve been running it for the past 4 years. I’d love it if I would happen to see you there! Keep up the awesome blog!

Thanks for sharing your long run fuel. I’m in the middle of training for my first marathon and I crave real food not gels. By the way, the Pittsburgh Marathon is my planned race. I haven’t signed up yet because I want to be sure I can get past 16 miles.